Furnace-charging apparatus.



A. G. CLARK & P. L. ANTISELL.

FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS.

APPLIOA'IION IILED snrmiz, 1907.

Patented Mar.8,1910,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' wlfnaamo UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

AnoLrH c. cLARK, or ream AMBoY, NEW JERSEY; Am) FRANK L. ANTI-SELL, or

. NEW YORK, N. Y.

FURNACE-CHARGI G APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 8 1910;

I Application filed September 12, 1 907. Serial No. 392,449.

To all whom 'it mog concern:

Be it known that we,'AooLPH C. @LAR and FRANK .L ANTISELL, citizens of the 'United States, and residents, respectively, of

Perth Amboy, county of Middlesex, State of'New Jersey, and of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented'certain new and useful'Improvements in Furnaceand from the furnace, are adjustable ver Charging Apparatus, of which the followlng is;,ja specification.

-This." invent-ion consists in certain pecul iaritiesin the construction and arrangement of arts and in certain novel combinations of eernents substantially as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the subjoined claims.

' Themain purpose of the resent invention istoprov'ideian' apparatus or charging furnaces, in which the charge will be uniformlyand evenly stacked, so asto utilize the entire available space-of the furnace intended for the charge. In ursuance of this objet', we-have provide such apparatus,- with a .peel having means whereby it is moved into the furnace and to aposition immediatel above the place where the charge is to" be eposited, and the shelf of the peel is then quickly withdrawn from beneath the charge,'whi ch-drops-by gravity to the predetermined place. By, thus depositing the charge in contradistinction. to carrying it. to a position slightly in advance or in rear of the place where'it is to be deposited and then shoving the charge'oif the peel the canting' movements of the charge, which causes thecharge to be irregularly orunevenly stacked,

are eliminated.

, The variousmovements and adjustmentsare accomplished, in the type 'of'the inven-- tion herein illustrated by providing the peel carrier with means which are movable to ti'cally and pivotally and are movable horizontally into and out of the furnace through the door of the latter; the peel being also movable relatively to its charge so as to quicklymove it from under the charge and cause it to remove to a position for a fresh.

charge. The means herein ,illustrated by which these movements are accomplished are of simple and effective nature and in some respects constitute important features of the invention. 1

. thereto.

' The importance of thisinvention will be appreciated when the charge consists of flat sheets as cathode sheets as made in electrolytio refineries which are to be, piled one that 'manypther forms than those herein set forth, and many apparently widely different variations of the invention may be made within'the scope of the subjoined claims and without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, for which reason the forms of the invention herein described, or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted I as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.' 3 In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference designate like parts in the several views: Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of the apparatus showing it in the operation of cha-rgin cross seetionon line 22 of Fig- 1. Fig.3 is a diagrammatic view of the end of the While our invention a furnace X, the lat- 'ter being illustrated 1n section. Fig. 2 is a peel, showing a charge Y supported thereby.

.Fig. 4 shows the action or movement of the charge Whenpnshed ofit' the-peel. Fig." 5 shows themovement of the charge when the peel: is quicklywithdrawn from under the charge accordingto our invention. Fig. 6 1s, a plan viewv of the peel and its carrier provided with a means of one form which may be employed to reciprocate it in the carrier, said means belng shown in section,

Fig. 7, is a detail view of diflerent'means forreciprocating the peel to.' adapt it to receive theicharge and to quickly withdraw it from underneaththe same. Fig. 8 is va detail viewmf the end of the peel adapted to the operating means shown in Fig; 7. Fig. 9 is a plan viewof an apparatus for charging furnaces having another means for reciprocating the peel, the parts being shown I in the position which they assume when the peel has been withdrawn from under the charge deposited and prior ,to the eelbeing moved with its carrier from the urnace, for the reception of another charge. Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section taken on lines 10-11 on Fig. 9, but showing the position of the parts when the peel is in its chargereceiving position. Fig. 11 is a longitudinal view of the same line illustrating the parts in the position of Fig. 9 and in dotted lines the peel projected to the osition it occupies prior to its withdrawa from under the charge.

Referring first to the construction shown in the first. sheet of the drawing, it will be noted that our apparatus as here embodied contemplates the use of an over-head crane which travels on rails 1, 1 from one charg ing door or furnace to another. The crane consists of a bridge A. having'trucks provided with wheels 2 by which it moves on the rails 1, and siiitable actuating means, as a motor B connected by gears 3 and 4 with the axle 5 to move the crane on the rails. The crane is also provided with a trolley O carrying a motor 6 connected by gears 7 to wheels 8 of the trolley indicated. The parts thus far described may be of the usual or any suitable construction.

. Suspended from the trolley C is a'housing D mounted to turn relatively to the trolley and to support the peel E hereinafter described. As here shown, threnhousing D has a flange -03 at its upper end which is arranged contiguous'to a flange 0' at the lower end of the frame-of the trolley, and antifriction balls 03 are arranged between these flanges. To rotate the housing there is provided a motor D, carried by the trolley, a

Worm shaft 9, gear 10, shaft 11, pinion 12 and gear 13. The peel E is also mounted to be moved up and down and to be moved into andout of the furnace. A convenient means for effecting the first of these movements comprises a drum 14 mounted in the frame of the trolley and connected with a cross-head F by a suitable flexible transmission element, as a rope or cable 15,- having its ends wound upon the drum and its intermediate portions passing around pulleys 16 connected with the cross-head, and around an equalizing pulley 17 connected with the frame of thetrolley. The cross -head is guided in its up-and-down movements within the housing by interengaging projections 18 and grooves 18. The peel is mounted in the cross-head F and is reciprocated transversely thereof. The peel is made in two relatively movable parts, to wit, a frame E and an element E which in form is, or may be, similar to an ordinary hand peel, having at its outer end a blade or support'e upon which the charge is received. This element may be regarded as the peel proper, but we prefer to designate it a shelf. The frame and its shelf reciprocate together relative to ,the cross-head F and are also mounted so that the shelf may be moved independently of the frame so as to withdraw from under the charge.

To prevent rearward movement of the charge with the shelf when the shelf is quickly withdrawn, the frame E has an abutment bar or stop 0 at its forward end against which the charge strikes and rearward of which it cannot pass. The means for reciprocating the frame E as shown in Fig. 1, consists of a inion 19 which engages a rack 20 on the rame." This pinion is m'mesh with a worm 21 mounted on a shaft 22 driven by a suitable motor 23.

In the forms shown in Figs. 1 and 6 the means for giving the shelf a quick withdrawal movement are-as follows: 24 is a rod extending from a piston 25 on the cylinder 26 of an air or other suitable engine, G. This engine is shown as connected by a suitable-system of pipes, designated generally by the character 27, provided with a fourway valve 28, with a receiver or storage tank 29 which is connected, by pipe 30, with a suitable motor and air compressor, 31. One member 27 of the system of pipes 27 communicates with the interior of the cylinder 26 through a port close to the forward cylinder head, while another member 27 of said system has communication with the cylinders interior through a .port at such distance from the other head of the cylinder as to cause the retiun movement of the shelf and its connected parts to be arrested automatically by the air compressed between the last. named port and said head of the cylinder. lVhen the valve 28 is turned to permit air to flow through pipe 27 the piston is quickly forced to the other end of the cylinder and the support 6 is quickly withdrawn from under the charge.

As already stated, other means for reciprocating the shelf may be employed. ()no such is shown in Figs. 7 and 8 inv which the rod 24 of the shelf E is provided with a rack 40 which is in engagement with a pinion 41 keyed on a shaft 42 provided with a clutch 43 having an operating lever A magnetic induction type of clutch, of the class .in which one side, as the fields, is connected to either the driving or driven end of the clutch, while'the armature is attached to the other part of the transi'nission, is shown at 45, and a reverse motor 46 is connected in a suitable manner to the magnetic clutch 45. By reversing the motor, the shelf E can be cont-rolled so as to be projectedor retracted from or into, or toward, the frame of the peel; it being apparent that by disengaging the vclutch 43, by means of the handle or lever 44, the shelf, assuming that A v the-movement communicated thereto by the described gearing.- This reverse movement may be-very rapid and cause the shelf to be quickly withdrawn from under the upper flange of the j channel bar and the suitable manner. -tached to the arm 7' of the truck of the carlower.wheel 52 on the lower flange so asto guide' the carriage and prevent it from jumping off the-track. This carriage carries the peel, the frame of which is here designated by the character E" while the shelf is designated E i v A desirable means for reciprocating .the carriage is as follows: 61 is adouble-acting automatic hydraulic or steam engine secared to the bottom of the track. To one of the piston rods, 62, of this engine is connected a. pulley 63. Secured to the strapv of this pulley is one end of a vfall 64 which may consistof. a rope, wire cable or any other suitable material. This falljpasses over the guide pulley 65. securedto the underside of the track, aroundthe pulley 62, then backand around a pulley 66 and then to the carriage to which it is secured in any Ashere shown, it is atriage J. From this arm the fall extends forward and around a'pulley 67 secured to the underside of the track H, then arounda pulley 68 secured to the forward piston rod 69, then around a pulley 70 secured to the underside of the track and backto the. strap of the pulley 68, where: it is secured. From this construction it is apparent that upon the piston 61 bein'greciprocated in the cylinder '61, a 'rapid movement will be transmitted to the carriage J through the cable 64.. The frame E of the peel is connected to and moves with the carriage, andis'so arranged tha't as'the carriage moves toward the end of the track J the frame and support are moved into the furnace. In this construction we have provided the following means for quickly withdrawing the shelf\ into the frame frombeneath the charge in the operation of depositing the latter, at the predetermined place in the furnace. Therod 24 of the shelf or support E is provided with a crosshead' 76to the .ends of which the forward'ends of the springs 77.

.are secured, the other \ends of the springs are attached to a suitable part of the frame E? To the said crosshead or rod 24*, or any other suitable part of the structure, is secured an arm 78 which is adapted to be en-.

gaged by a stop .79, here shown as secured to the track H.

In the rearward movement of the carriage J, the arm 78 is brought into engagement with the stop 79, thus holding the rod 24 of the shelf or support E against further movement of the carriage. The movement of the latter being continued, draws the frame E. rearward offthe support with the effect that the latter is projected to receive encharge. The rearward movement referred to also places the springs 77 under tension and they are held in this condition by means of a catch 80 arranged in position to engage the upper end ofthe arm--78 when the frame E reaches the extreme of its rearward movement. This catch 1s here shown as an OIdl;

nary pawl fixed on 'a shaft 81 which extends transversely of the frame E and is journaled in bearings providedin the sides of the latter. This shaft hasa downward projecting arm 8 2-to which. a lanyard 83 which extendsto a is placed.

Theposition of the pa'rtswhen the peel is Assuming retracting is shown in Fig. 10. now that the support E has received a charge, and that the apparatus is in position to enter the door of the furnace: the engine Glisoperated to move the peel forward into the furnace when the peel may be turned so that the shelf or support will be directly over the place where the charge is to be deposited! \Vhen this position is reached, the

lanyard 83 is pulled by the operator the pawl 80 is thereby freedfromthe arm 78 and the rod 24* being released the springs 77 .quickly draw the shelf rearward from under the charge, the posit-ion shown in dotted lines in Fig. 11 to the position shown in Fig 10 and in full lines in Fig.11, when the charge drops to the predetermined place without any horizontal or canting move'mentsQThe charges are thus uniformly stackedand the entire available space of the furnace is utilplace convenient to the operator ized as already stated. At its rear end the rod 24* of the shelf isprovided with a head 25 which works in a cylinder 26 having an open forward end. The rear end of the cylnder is provided with an air-emission a ertu-re 87. This cylinder constitutes a ash pot by the use of which the rearward movement of the shelf is accomplished without noise or shock.

When the shelf or support has been retracted by the spring as described, the peel is withdrawn from the furnace for a fresh charge, by operation of the engine 61, during which movement its parts assume the position :shown in Fig. 10 as already explained.

From the foregoing, the operation and advantages of the system will readily appear, and it will be noted that, as already stated,

' the inventionis not restricted to the details shown.

\Ve desire it to be alsoiunderstood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention, which, a

relatively to the supporting means, and a charge support carried by the frame, said charge support and frame having relative movement as and for the purpose set-forth.

3. A furnace charging machine comprising a crane, a carrier pivotally connected therewith, an adjustable peel-supporting means carried by the carrier, and a peel supported by said means and reciprocating means for the peel in relation to the supporting means.

r. A furnace charging machine comprising a crane, a housing pivotally connected therewith, a cross-head adjustably mounted in the housing and a peel carried by the cross-head and means for reciprocating the peel relatively thereto.

5. A furnace charging machine comprising a crane, a housing pivotally connected therewith, means for turning the housing.

pi votally, a crosshcad mounted in the housing, means for raising and lowering the cross-head, a peel carried by the cross-head and means for reciprocating the peel relatively to the cross-head.

t'. A furnace charging machine, comprising a crane, a carrier pivotally connected therewith, an adjustable peel supporting means carried by the carrier, and a peel comprising a fame and a charge support, said frame reeiproeatorily mounted in the peel supported means and said charge-support movably mounted in the frame and provided with means for withdrawing itfrom beneath the charge.

7. A furnace charging machine comprising a crane. a carrier pivotallv coimectcd therewith, u cross-head mounted in the carricr. means for raising and lowering the ('rossdicad. a peel comprising a frame, means for reci 'n'ocating the framein the crosshead. and a cl'mrge-support movably mounted in the frame, and means for moving the charge support in the frame and from beneat-l'l the charge.

8. A furnace charging machine, compris ing a peel having a reciprocatory carrier and a charge support carried thereby and movable relatively thereto, means for moving the charge support relatively to the carrier and means whereby its movement with the carrier is arrested within the limits of movement of the latter.

9. A furnace charging apparatus, comprising a reciprocatory carrier a charge support carried thereby and movable relatively thereto, means for moving the charge support relatively to the carrier to withdraw it from the charge, and means for arresting the movement of the chargesupport in advance of the cessation of movement of the carrier in the return of the parts to the charge receiving place. 7

10. A furnace charging apparatus comprising a reciprocatory carriage,'a carriage support carried thereby and movable relatively thereto, a mechanism for producing said relative movement, and m'eansfor restraining the action of the mechanism until the parts have reached a predetermined place.

11. A furnace charging apparatus, comprising a crane, a carriage, a track, a support for the carriage and track having a pivotal connection with the crane,'means for reciprocating the carrier on the track, and a charge support carried by the carriage.

12. A furnace charging apparatus comprising a crane, a carrier suspended therefrom, a cross-head carried by the carrier,

means for moving the cross-head in the carrier, a track carried by the cross-head, a

carriage mounted to run on the track, and a charge-support carried by the carriage.

13. A furnace charging apparatus, comprising a crane, a carrier pivotally suspended therefrom, a cross-head carried by the carrier, means for moving'the cross-head in the carrier, a track carried by the cross-head, a carriage mounted to run on the track, and a (barge support carried by the carriage."

14. A furnace charging apparatus comprising a charge support and means for moving the charge-support from beneath the charge, said means adapted to effect a quick movement of the support and to cushion it at the end of the stroke.

15. A furnace charging apparatus, comprising a chargesupport and means for moving the charge support from beneath the charge, said means adapted to effect a in. A furnace charlging apparatus having a peel comprising a rame provided with a rack, a motor, gearin "connecting the motor with the rack where y the peel is reciprocated, and a charge support reciprocatorily mounted in saidfra'me.

17. A furnace char gapparatus having a peel comprising a Fine provided with "a rack, 21 motor, gearingconnecting themotor with the rack whereby the peel is reciprocated and a charge'support reciprocato'rily mounted in said frame, said charge-support having a rack, a pinion engaging the. rack, and means compnsing a magnetic induction charge-support relatively to the frame.

In witness whereof We have hereunto set 1-5 our hands at Perth Amboy, county of Middlesex, and State of New Jersey this 30th,

day .of August, 1907.

' JADOLPH 0. CLARK.

p a FRANI L. ANTISELL.

In Presence"of 1 I WM: P. BRADLEY, I A. RnmMANN. 

